From the Radio World “Who’s Buying What” page: The Western New York Public Broadcasting Association’s WNED in Buffalo, N.Y., has migrated to a fully IP-based infrastructure using Calrec Type R consoles, cores and headless controllers.
Under the Buffalo Toronto Public Media (BTPM) umbrella, WNED operates the NPR News/Talk 88.7 WBFO(FM), licensed to Buffalo and also simulcast on 91.3 WOLN(FM) in Olean, N.Y. and 88.1 WUBJ(FM) in Jamestown.
BTPM also operates the 94 kW grandfathered Class B 94.5 WNED(FM) in Buffalo, which runs a Classical format.
Finally, it runs 88.7 WBFO(HD2), “The Bridge,” an adult album-oriented HD subchannel, also heard on 94.5 WNED(HD2).
WNED also operates a PBS member TV station.
BTPM completed the upgrade this spring, and the public media outlet noted a long history with Calrec, beginning with an Omega console it installed in its TV control room in the 2000s.
Remote redundancy
WNED’s stations operate from its downtown Buffalo studios. It has a main and backup control room for all three of its radio operations. Each studio has a main and backup console with Calrec 12-fader Type Rs, and it also has a Calrec 18-fader Type R in its production control room, according to Joe Puma, WNED’s VP of engineering and technology. Puma told Radio World the new setup replaces a Harris/PR&E system installed in 2008.
All of WNED’s cores are outfitted with 120 DSP channels and are fully redundant.
“If the primary control room were ever to fail, the backup runs on a different core, while Type R’s modularity also means we can easily move from one room to another,” Puma said in a release.
The modules are PoE, meaning they can be unplugged in one room and plugged into another.
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WNED also operates two headless mixers with Calrec Assist to provide remote broadcast capabilities.
“Buffalo can get a lot of snow, and a few years ago we had a horrendous snowstorm that flooded our studio complex,” said Puma, who has overseen engineering for WNED’s radio stations since 1998. “The ability to stay on air in a snowstorm was absolutely key to this installation.”
He said that BTPM has already used Calrec Assist to deliver remote broadcasts from a variety of complex locations.
Puma lauded Calrec’s support team, whose members were on hand to source parts and help the public media outlet build additions. He said the Type R equipment, in general, has been simple for WNED personnel to operate. It has also integrated with the station’s ENCO DAD automation.
He said that BTPM’s engineers can set up its consoles with presets to keep things simple for its operators.
“For example, on an election coverage night, we can just bring up that preset for election coverage, and all the routing and mix-minuses are all already set up properly,” Puma said.
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